Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment Minister and the staff.
Yesterday, I made a few comments on the treaty issue, and I was just getting into my concern with regard to language when the time ran out. So I will pick it up where I left off.
In the previous act or the existing act we have today, there were a number of provisions in there regarding the language of instruction. One of the concerns that I have, and I raised it during the Standing Committee on Legislation hearings in Fort Simpson, is that this act is a totally new act, so it's difficult to compare what is in the existing act and what is planted in the revised act to see what the differences and changes are.
On the language of instruction, section 89.(1) in the existing act states that, "the local education authority or the divisional board of education, as the case may be, shall determine the language of instruction to be used for kindergarten in schools in the education district or education division where a kindergarten program is offered, and for the first two years of school programs following kindergarten."
Section 89.(2) on that is, "where a language other than English is the language of instruction under subsection (1)(a) English must be taught as a second language; and (b) instruction must be provided in English for students whose first language is English."
Section 89.(3) is, "where English is the language of instruction under subsection (1) but is not the first language of the majority of the students, the first language of the majority of students must be taught as a second language."
On this one here, I was hoping that this section remained intact; or was, in fact, even expanded upon. The reason I am saying that is that there have been requests from different quarters and people that I represent to increase aboriginal language in the communities.
For example, in the Deh Cho First Nations women's gathering that was just held, a number of recommendations were made, and one of them deals with education. It says that, "The Deh Cho First Nations resolve to integrate Dene language, culture, knowledge and spirituality into the institutions of education from preschool through to high school in the Deh Cho region, that the institutions of education recognize the value of the history of the Dene in the Deh Cho, and in doing so, are supportive of developing programs in the schools that call for the teaching and instruction of Dene elders, and that the institutions of education set aside four to five minutes a day for instruction and discussion on treaty rights, Dene history, Dene culture, politics, traditional justice, traditional medicine, traditional knowledge of land and people and all such teachings that will provide the Dene youth with a sense of pride and belonging as well as the knowledge and skills to take their place as leaders in due time." This is the direction of women from the Deh Cho region.
What has happened here in the tabled version of it on March 30, 1995, in the revised bill, is hard to determine if you are going through the bill. I think it deals with it in section 73.(1) of the revised bill. It says: "Subject to subsection (2), a District Education Authority shall, in accordance with any directions of the Minister, determine a language to be taught as part of the education program in the education district or in any school in the education district." Section 73.(2), "If an Official Language other than English is the language of instruction, English must be taught as a language as part of the education program."Third, section 73.(3) says: "If English is the language of instruction, an official language other than English must be taught as part of the education program."
In section 70.(1), it says: "The language of instruction of an education program must be an Official Language." And 70.(2):'There may be more than one language of instruction in an education district and more than one language of instruction in a school."
Section 71.(1) is: "A District Education Authority shall, in accordance with the requirements of this section, determine the language of instruction to be used in the education district!'Section 71.(2), "Before determining a language of instruction in an education district that is in an education division in which there is more than one education district, a District Education Authority shall request from the Divisional Education Council relating to development and use of school program materials and the supply of teachers who are fluent in a language and their availability to teach in that language."
Further on, section 71.(3) says: 'The Minister may give directions establishing standards and guidelines for the selection and use of language of instruction to assure the maintenance of the highest possible standards of education..." and it goes on.
I am trying to determine what all this means. In the tabled document of March 30th, the Minister had discretion over all these things, but that was taken out, which is good. But the criteria that was established in the revised bill was, in order to teach in an aboriginal language, you have to determine the significant demand. I would like to know what the definition of"significant demand" is in this area.
The other thing is that you have to determine if there are enough teachers who are fluent in a language and you also have to determine if there are enough materials or resources to teach this.
You have to fulfil these requirements before you can even teach in an aboriginal language now, so what this new revised bill does is make it even more difficult now to teach in an aboriginal language. There was a comment made that I heard that there is enough culture in the bill already, but to determine culture is very difficult. Culture is derived from language, and language is key for the culture of the Dene people.
I feel there is an imposition of unrealistic conditions placed in the new bill when it comes to teaching in the aboriginal languages. The emphasis of English is very predominant in this bill and it really emphasizes that English is the way to teach. In some cases, I have to say that isn't the case. We have to allow aboriginal languages in the schools.
Another thing is the Dene languages are taught in the schools based on how many students speak the language. However, that shouldn't determine it. I understand that in the French language, if the first language of the parents is French, they allow the students to be taught in French; so, if the first language of the parents is Dene, students should be taught Dene first. The idea is to save a language and to develop it.
These are the comments I have on the Dene language part of it. I have more concerns. I just wanted to know if I have 10 minutes to speak on each clause
--- Laughter
...or is it 10 minutes for the whole bill and that is it, Mr. Chairman?